Celebrating The Great, The Good and The Green at East Wintergarden

Locally sourced and naturally good produce shaped our menu when we catered for the 2015 Footprint Awards, a very special event for 200 guests, held at East Wintergarden.

The awards celebrate sustainability and responsible business practice in the foodservice sector. Each year the winners of these accolades are announced at the Footprint Awards Dinner, a key event in the catering, events and hospitality calendar, which brings together "the great, the good and the green of the food industry supply chain”. It’s an evening of fine food, sophistication and celebration to highlight the evolution of the sustainability in the industry.”

We served a chilled watercress velouté with smoked goat’s cheese trinity cream and heirloom tomato wafers, along with golden beetroot purée drops, for the starter. This was followed by confit Guinea fowl Wellington with pea and tarragon purée, oak smoked Scotch egg and beetroot butter sauce.

For dessert we offered a beautiful, delicate gooseberry and Sipsmith consommé, with gooseberry curd and elderflower cheesecake meringue. Finally, we had a special after dinner treat of Four Pure oatmeal stout ice cream in a waffle cornet.

Throughout our menu, we placed an emphasis on beautiful fresh produce from local suppliers. Every element of our starter came from the south of England, including Chalke Valley watercress and goat’s curd from Nutknowle Farm on the Sussex/Kent border. Our guinea fowl came from Woolley Park Farm in Bradford-on-Avon, and the gooseberries in our dessert originated in Mount Pleasant Farm in Kent.

While we were delighted with the reception to our show-stopping dinner, there was one special surprise it couldn’t quite top… The evening’s star attraction had to be the amazing pop-up farm that guests discovered in the middle of the main hall at East Wintergarden, complete with goats, sheep, ducks and chickens! These extra special guests were from Surrey Docks Farm in the heart of London.